Thousand flock to Harrogate fireworks display

Hollie Bone

Crowds came in the thousands to the annual stray bonfire to watch what was the 44th year of fireworks, music and mulled wine.

The yearly event run by the Harrogate Round Table raised over £8,000 for this year’s chosen charities, the Tate House Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and Our Angels.

In charge of organising the event this year was Paul Dinning who spoke about how the weather can affect how many attend.

He said: “We had quite a challenging morning because the weather was poor but fortunately we had plenty of Round Table members to take their time to set up.

“Because the weather was fairly good in the evening we had a lot of people coming.

“That is one of the biggest challenges - we can change things year on year but if the weather is bad that really affects the turn out.”

While the night was cold, the atmosphere was warm as friends and families gathered in anticipation for the show in the sky.

Mr Dinning said: “we are thrilled with the impact of the event how much people enjoyed it.

“The people I have spoken to were thrilled with the evening particularly the fireworks and once again it was quite a spectacular show.

“Feedback is reflected in how much we collect so we are really pleased with how it turned out.”

Our Angels, a charity for parents who have lost a child, thanked the Round Table on Facebook for their fundraising support.

Mr Dinning said: “We are going to be able to write some really good donations for our charities.

“We are quite proud to be able to support them.”

The Round Table have also held a proud reputation for maintaining the town bonfire as a free entry event.

Despite pressure to introduce an admission fee, the Harrogate fireworks display is one of only a few in the area that do not require purchased tickets.

Paul said: “There’s always pressure to make it a paid entry but we have tried to ‘disalign’ ourselves as having a paid entry, because part of our ethos is to not only raise money for charity but to provide community services and it is something we can give to the community.

“We do rely on people reaching deeply into their pockets. This year it was very good in attendance but this year and last year we had favourable weather conditions, it was mild and dry.”